


The Stray

by b26 (B26)



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Drabble, Implied Relationships, M/M, Poor Will Graham, Someone Help Will Graham
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-19 13:53:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1472233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B26/pseuds/b26
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short one-shot about Will Graham and his dogs, because they're adorable, with a tiny hint of Hannibal/Will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Stray

Serial killers often collected trophies. It was their way of commemorating each and every kill; of reminding themselves that they were still alive. Will Graham, on the other hand, collected strays. It was his way of trying to right irreparable wrongs; of reminding himself that he was still alive, and honouring those who weren’t.

The first time, it had been an impulsive decision - he’d simply been saving one vulnerable soul from a night on the streets for one night. But he’d liked the company, so the dog had stayed. He didn’t feel so alone coming home to man’s best friend and, sometimes, that was nice. He didn’t have to be social, he didn’t have to make conversation, but there was comfort and companionship to be found after a day staring at dead, dismembered corpses, and trying to determine how and why life had been mercilessly ripped from once living bodies. 

Will Graham couldn’t save the world. He knew that now. It had been hard the first time he’d helped out a crime scene and had been forced to wait for another victim to die in order to catch a killer. It was too heavy a burden for any one person to bear. 

No matter how acutely he could dissect and analyse the malice and forethought behind each gruesome crime, Will would never know what could cause a person to become so broken and twisted that they could see murder as being just. He could tell you how a murderer thought, but never why. The why still terrified him. It always would. The why crossed a line; the line which divided him from them. He dreaded the seemingly inevitable day when that line and his reality would begin to blur and disappear forever. 

Strays helped to silence that fear, or at least quieten the growing unrest in his soul. He couldn’t help every person in need, but he found solace in the strays he could help. Taking a stray in was never a premeditated or conscious decision but there was a correlation between the timing of a new pair of paws and his mental well being nonetheless. Each stray ended up being a tribute of sorts. Every killer who got under his skin, or rather every killer whose skin he failed to assume before the body count rose, caused him to reach out. Every dog he adopted helped him through a particularly difficult case; memories of victims never forgotten to Will as they, and the small, hollow victories of the serial killers he caught, lived on in his canine companions.

Will’s heart was by no means closed, but his day job required him to put walls up for self-preservation; walls which were impervious to most people, yet invisible to strays. He seemed to attract them, to relate to them. It was reassuring to know he wasn’t the only lost soul wandering through life, and every new companion made him feel a little more grounded and a little less alone. 

Something was different.There had been a change which was imperceptible to everyone but Will. Life was taking a great toll than usual. When he saw Winston, he’d felt a compelling need to take him in; he needed Winston to fix him. For the first time, Will Graham found himself affected by crime scenes and, with every gut-wrenching blow his mind felt, he began to feel paralysed not only by fear, but also the knowledge that lines were beginning to blur. Worse still, he was powerless to stop reality slipping away. 

The sleepless nights, the increasingly dishevelled look, the weary eyes, the longing to belong to someone; to have someone to come home to and call his own - they were all telling signs. Soon he would amble down the same dark road to nowhere where he had found Winston, embodying the fellow lost soul as the truth began to emerge.

Will Graham had become a stray. And Hannibal Lecter was desperate to take him in.


End file.
